Miss Mystic Falls

*AGE CHANGE FROM 12 to 14*

Emma and Elena were in the parking lot of their school, hanging out before school started. "I'm so tired." Emma complained, yawning.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have stayed up so late watching TV." Elena said.

Emma nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Jenna already lectured me this morning." She looked up to sat something else but stopped when she saw a red Porsche pull into the lot. "Is that Stefan?" she asked, pointing at the car.

Elena turned and nodded.

Stefan owns a Porsche?! Emma thought, staring at the car dreamily.

The car parked and revealed the said vampire. "Come on." Elena said, already making her way over. Stefan removed his sunglasses when they came up to him. "Nice car."

Emma shook her head. "'Nice car'? More like amazingly beautiful car." Emma lifted her hand and was about to touch it when she looked at Stefan. "Can I touch it?"

Stefan chuckled and nodded. "Go ahead. You know, I thought it would be a waste to leave it sitting in the garage." He went over to Elena and kidded her, holding her face in his hands.

"I didn't know you were coming back today." Elena said when they pulled apart.

Stefan looked over at Emma and back a Elena. "I woke up this morning and I was feeling great, and I figured it was time for me to get back into things."

Emma moved her attention from the car to Stefan. "Does that mean you're okay now? With all the cravings?" she asked, leaning against the car.

"Yeah. I mean, the worst part is over. So. . . now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible." Stefan caressed Elena's face.

"I'm okay with that." Elena said, kissing Stefan again.

Emma made a face. "Ew, gross. Please wait till I'm not around." The couple laughed and the bell went off. "Bye, guys." she said, and she walked to the school.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma had just gotten outside after the bell rang when she saw Bonnie. She gasped and ran towards the girl. "Bon!" she yelled.

Bonnie turned around and smiled. She opened her arms when Emma rammed into her, almost making them fall. "Hey, Em. How's it going?" she asked.

"Great. How are you? When did you get back?" Emma asked, pulling away.

Bonnie shrugged. "A few days ago. I spent time with my dad for a little before deciding to come back to school."

Emma smiled even bigger. "Well, I'm happy you're back. I missed you so much."

"Bonnie."

The girls turned to see Elena come up to them. "Hey," Bonnie said, but turned her head away as if to ignore her.

"Hey, I, um, I tried to grab you after class but you'd already taken off. How are you? How's your family?" Elena asked.

"We're dealing. It's been really hard."

Elena adjusted her bag. "Everyone here really missed you."

"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral, and honestly after you told me that the tomb's spell failed, I just didn't really want to come back." Bonnie responded, looking down.

Emma thought about how hard it must have been for Bonnie. To lose Grams and only to find out that the attempt Grams made to protect Mystic Falls failed must have made it seem like her death was for nothing.

"I hope you understand why I called. I wanted you to know before you came home." Elena said.

"I understand why. I just wish I didn't know." Bonnie said.

The three stood in silence before Elena spoke again. "I know it's been really hard-"

"Bonnie!" They turned to see Caroline running up to them. "Thank God you're home." Caroline hugged her tightly. "I know we talked everyday, but I missed you!"

Emma and Elena were taken back from the comment. During the time Bonnie was away, the sisters attempted to communicate with the witch but Bonnie would never answer or call back. The only time they heard her voice was when Elena told her about the tomb.

"How are you doing?" Caroline asked Bonnie.

Bonnie shrugged. "Better. Just better. You know, and glad to be back and try to keep myself busy."

Caroline smiled big. "Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe confab needed ASAP. You need to help me pick the perfect dress for the Founder's court."

Emma and Elena shared a look of confusion. "The Founder's Court? Did I miss something?" Elena asked, looking at her two best friends for help.

Caroline looked at Elena and emphasized. "The Founder's Court."

Emma came to realization. "Oh, El, you know, Miss Mystic Falls." Emma said.

Caroline nodded. "Yup, they announced it today and, um, you and I are both on it."

"Oh, my god. We signed up for that so long ago. I completely forgot." Elena said, remembering the event.

"So, are you dropping out, then?" Caroline urged.

Elena shook her head, sadly. "I can't."

"No?" Caroline asked, sounding disappointed with Elena's response.

Emma nodded. "Mom's the one who wanted her to enter." Bonnie and Caroline stared at the Gilbert sisters in pity.

~~~~♡~~~~  

The youngest Gilbert had just walked into the kitchen to see Elena on the phone. "Is that Stefan?" she asked. Elena nodded. "Hi Stefan!" Emma shouted, knowing no matter how loud she said it, he would hear her.

Elena rolled her eyes. "He says hi. Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." She hung up the phone.

"What were you talking about?" Emma asked, grabbing a granola bar.

Elena put her phone on the counter. "I asked Stefan to be my escort at the Founder's Court."

Emma smiled. "You two are going to look so cute." She took a bite before she gasped. "Oh, my god, Elena. Can I help you get ready?" she asked excitedly. Elena seemed unsure. "Oh, pleaase! You have the interview coming up and you need practice. I can help."

Elena sighed. "Alright. You can help."

Emma squealed with happiness. "Yay! Come on, let's practice."

So for the rest of the night, Emma helped Elena prepare for the interview by asking potential questions. And on the day of, Emma made sire to make Emma feel like she was going to do great. And then a few days after, all the contestants were to meet at the high school's gym to lean the dance. Emma, who was bored that day, deiced to tag along.

"Honor your partner." Carol Lockwood instructed and the contestants bowed to each other. Emma was sitting on the lunch table, watching. "Let's focus. Right hand around. Flirt with your eyes." Emma noticed that Elena and Stefan were having the most fun out of everyone in the room. "Left hand around." They copied the same movements again. "Both hands." Then, suddenly, Stefan twirled Elena and caught her in a dip. That got Carol mad. "No, no, no. There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near-touch." Carol lightly scolded. She turned to a blonde. "Good job, Amber." She complimented.

The girl, Amber, smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood!" she replied, a little too happily.

Emma made a face. She and Elena made eye contact and she mouthed, 'Try hard'. The older girl laughed and nodded in agreement.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Finally, the dance practice was over. Emma went over to the couple. "You guys were great."Stefan smiled. "Why thank you."Elena was going to say something when the three of them noticed that the other half of the contestants came in, Caroline and Bonnie included. "Bonnie." Elena called."Hey, how are you?" Stefan asked. Bonnie didn't answer him. It seemed to Emma that she was uncomfortable with Stefan around."I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt." Caroline intervened, sensing the awkwardness. "He had to work today."Elena nodded and stared at Bonnie. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?"Bonnie came up with an excuse. "We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal.""It'll only take a minute." Elena persisted. "Please?"Bonnie sighed and nodded in the direction of the door. They left, leaving Stefan, Emma, and Caroline alone. Caroline smiled politely at the two and walked off.Emma turned to Stefan, seeing him frown. "Hey." He looked at her. "Don't take it what Bonnie did the wrong way. She's still hurting about Grams and everything."Stefan nodded. "I understand." He then held out his hand. "How about I teach you how to dance a little?" Emma smiled and took his hand. They did the simple side step movements. But after a while, Stefan had a distant look on his face."Hey, what's wrong?" Emma asked.Stefan blinked and looked down at her. "Oh, I'm fine." He smiled and they danced till Elena came back.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Emma was downstairs, already in her dress, waiting for Elena to come down. "Come on, Elena! We're going to be late!" she called up. Then someone knocked on the door and she opened it to see Alaric all dressed up. "You look nice, Rick." she complimented.

Alaric smiled. "Thanks. You too." He came inside and fixed his jacket."So I heard you're driving us." Emma said, closing the door behind him.He nodded. "Yeah. Is, uh, Elena almost ready? I kinda need to talk to her."Emma shrugged. "I have no idea. What's wrong?""It's about Stefan."Before Emma could respond, Elena came down the stairs, holding her dress. "Hey!" she said.Alaric smiled. "Hey, here let me get that." He grabbed the dress and Elena replied with a 'thanks'. "Um," He snuck a quick glance at Emma. "how is Stefan?"Elena furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?""You know, he seems on edge." Emma understood what he was getting at. Stefan must have done something out of the ordinary to make Alaric worried. Stefan has everything under control, he gave them his word. They put their trust in him. They don't have anything to worry about. Elena confirmed her thoughts when she responded to Alaric."He went through a lot, he was in bad shape for a while. But he's bouncing back now." she said. Alaric stared at her skeptically. "Alaric." The three turn to see John walk in from the kitchen, already dressed in his suit. "Hey, Buddy. What are you doing here?"Alaric responded as Jenna came down the stairs. "Well, I'm the chauffeur.""I thought I was driving." John said."Oh, no need." Jenna said. She looked at Alaric. "We're going with Rick." She smiled at him.Emma intervened the conversation. "Are we ready?" she asked.Jenna nodded and Elena and Emma made their way towards the door. But before they walked out, Jenna turned to John. "Jeremy can ride with you."

~~~~♡~~~~  

"Thanks for helping, guys." Elena said, having Jenna curl her hair and Emma helping her choose her makeup."Why thank you, but I wouldn't thank Jenna until we know for sure that your hair doesn't burn off." she joked. Elena laughed, and Jenna sent a glare but laughed nonetheless. "Hey, Elena, remember when Mom found out that you were applying for this? She was so excited.""And Elena, if I recall." Jenna inputted.Elena sighed. "I was. She made it sound like so much fun. Lots has changed since then." Jenna moved some hair around. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet."Elena carefully shook her head so that she wouldn't get hurt. "I don't have cold feet. I just. . . I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here." Emma looked down, wishing for the same thing. Jenna looked between the girls, sadden by their sorrow looks. "I'll tell you one thing, your hair would have a better chance if she was."That brought small smiles on the girl's faces. Elena began to get up. "Okay, I should go put my dress on.""Can I help?" Emma asked. Elena nodded."Alright, I'm gonna head down and get a drink." Jenna said, before leaving.

~~~~♡~~~~  

When the Gilbert sisters entered the dressing room, they saw Amber pacing back and forth. "Are you okay?" Emma asked.Amber nervously laughed. "I hate being the center of attention. I get panic attacks."Elena pointed towards the door. "Do you want some privacy so you can change?""Actually, I'm just- I'm just going to go get some air."Emma moved out of her way as she left. She looked at Elena and shrugged. "Go get your dress on." Elena nodded and went to the mirror where in hung. Emma turned only to jump when she saw Damon. Her shock was quickly replaced with annoyance."Ugh, you. You know you're not allowed back here."Damon had a serious expression. "Don't care. We need to talk.""Does it have to be right now?" Elena asked, gesturing to her dress.Damon advanced towards the girls. "Normally, I would have a completely different out look on what I'm about to tell you but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal.""Damon, what are you talking about?" Emma asked, crossing her arms."Stefan's still drinking human blood." he informed."What?!" Elena and Emma said at the same time, both shocked to here this.Damon nodded. "Yeah. A month ago, I would have rejoiced. But with the council back on the alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle." he stressed.Elena shook her head, trying not to believe this. "I know he's been a little edgy but he said that was normal.""He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house.""Oh my god." Emma said. She looked over at Elena and guided her to the couch when Emma noticed her state. Emma looked up at Damon. "Has he really gotten that bad?"Damon nodded. "He has no idea what normal is. His entire existence isn't normal. Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood. But he spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning how to control it. And now it's controlling him instead."Elena ironically laughed. "I can't believe this. I mean, it's Stefan we're talking about here.""Stefan on human blood, Elena. He'll do anything, he'll say anything, because he's not going to want to stop. Trust me." He explained. All what Damon said made everything Emma thought go out the window.Elena stood up. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place.""Elena. . ." Emma began but stopped when Stefan entered the room.Stefan put his hands in his pockets. "Uhh. . . what's going on in here?"All Emma and Elena could do was stare at him as Damon explained. "Just filling the girls in on your extracurricular activities."Stefan at first looked as if he was caught, but quickly brushed it off by softly laughing. "What are you talking about?""I know about the blood, Stefan." Elena said.Damon grabbed Emma's hand. "We're gonna be downstairs, me drinking." He guided Emma out the room and down the stairs.Emma protested on the way down. "But, Damon, I wanted to stay!"Damon shook his head as they went in the direction of the bar. "That conversation has to be between them." Emma sighed, seeing that he was right. Damon looked at her and rolled his eye. "Wait here." He left to got up to the bar and shortly came back with two tall glasses. "Here you go." he said, handing it to Emma.She looked at Damon, then at the glass, and back at Damon. "You do realize that I'm fourteen, right?" she asked.Damon rolled his eyes once more. "Relax, Little Gilbert, it's apple cider."Emma still hesitantly took a sip. When the liquid hit her tongue, her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It is apple cider."Damon shook his head and also took a sip of his beverage. The two stayed and chatted, Emma slowly, very slowly, warming up to him. She noticed that yes, he came be a complete jerk and not care about others feelings or pain, but deep down, he has a soft spot that comes out mostly for Stefan. Emma hopes that one day, it'll expand.Everyone soon gathered around the dance floor and Emma noticed that Stefan wasn't where all the other escorts were supposed to be. She leaned over to Damon. "Where's Stefan?" she whispered.Damon did a quick look around before responding. "I don't know."The contestants began coming down the stairs, one by one. It was going to be Elena's turn and Stefan still couldn't be found. It was Elena's turn. "Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Stefan Salvatore." Elena made her way downstairs, frowning when she didn't see Stefan.Emma looked at Damon and instantly had an idea. "Replace Stefan." she said and pushed Damon in the direction of the stairs.Damon led Elena to the dance floor and Emma left to search for Stefan while everyone was distracted. She looked everywhere. The entire upstairs and downstairs. He was nowhere to be found. Emma sighed, about to give up when she looked out a window with a view of the forest. Haven't checked out there, she thought and went outside.She walked around for sometime. Stumbling over twigs from time to time. It was starting to get dark when Emma threw in the towel. She sighed and turned around but stopped when she heard a girl."Help me!" Emma turned to see Amber run up to her, blood dripping down her neck."Oh my god, are you alright?" Emma asked, grabbing onto Amber's arms to guide her to the house.Amber shook her head. "No, this guy kept biting my neck." Emma's eyes widened. Only one name entered her mind. Stefan. He could be anywhere. "Okay we need-" she was interrupted when Stefan appeared before them. Emma pushed Amber towards the house. "Run!" She blocked Stefan's path when he tried to follow. "Stefan listen to me, you need to calm down."Stefan stared at her. "I can't, Emma. I need more." He blurred in front of her and roughly grabbed her arms. "I need more."Emma shook her head, tears slowly forming. "Stefan, don't. You promised me you were not like to others. Don't do this." She tried to get away but it was no use."I'm sorry." He whispered before leaning down and biting down on her neck.Emma screamed. The feeling of his fangs tearing the flesh of her neck was excruciating. "Stefan, stop." she sobbed out.But Stefan ignored her plea. He grunted in delight when he tasted her sweet blood. But the more blood he sucked, the faster she grew weaker. Emma felt relief when she heard Elena's voice."Stefan!" she called out. Stefan ripped his face out of Emma's neck and turned around, her blood dripping from his mouth. Emma fell on the floor, barely able to keep her eyes open. She couldn't hear very well, only a loud ringing noise. She saw Elena, Bonnie, and Damon standing before Stefan and herself, Elena looking down at her with fear. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and closed them, losing conscious.

~~~~♡~~~~  

Groaning softly, Emma slowly opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling above her. Instantly, she knew she wasn't at home, but couldn't place it. Emma looked down and saw she was laying on a couch and she turned her head to the side to see a huge fireplace. There was only one place she knew that had a fireplace that big. The boarding house. She lifted her hand and touched her neck, feeling nothing. Damon must have gave her some blood. Sighing, she brought her legs over the side of the couch and tried to stand. But her legs didn't have enough strength and she began to fall forward. Suddenly, she was caught by a pair of arms. "Whoa, there." She looked up to see Damon. He guided her back on the couch and sat her down. "Try not to stand. You're still kinda weak."Emma nodded lightly, careful not to cause more pain to her pounding head. "Okay. What happened?" she asked.Damon sat next to her. "Well, after Elena, Bonnie, and I got to you, you past out from losing a lot of blood. Then I brought you here before Sheriff Forbes came."It was silent for some time. Then Emma made the bold move to ask, "Where's Stefan?"Damon played with his ring. "He is trapped in a cell downstairs where he can't get out." He paused and continued. "Elena's down with him, too.""How is she?" Emma asked, itching to see her sister.Damon let out a laugh. "Better than I thought she would." Damon saw Emma make the move to get up and quickly stopped her. "I told you that you shouldn't stand up."Emma pushed him away and started to walk in a random direction. "I want to see Elena." She heard Damon sigh and put her arm around his neck. He led her to the basement and down where the cell was. When Elena's sitting figure came into view, Emma broke from Damon's grasp and sat next to her. "Hi." she said, bringing her legs up.Elena put her arm on Emma's shoulders. "Hey. How're you doing?"Emma shrugged. "I really don't know." She pointed to the steel door. "Are you sure locking Stefan up is going to help him?"Elena stared at it. "It has to." Emma nodded and rested her head on Elena, staring at the door as well.